Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Judges
Book: Judges
Chapter: 16
Overview:
Samson's escape from
Gaza.
(1-3) Samson enticed to declare where
his strength lay.
(4-17) The
Philistines take
Samson, and
Put out
his eyes.
(18-21) Samson's strength is renewed.
(22-24) He
destroys many of the
Philistines.
(25-31)
1-3 Hitherto
Samson's character has appeared glorious, though
uncommon. In this
Chapter we find him behaving in
So wicked a
manner, that many question whether or not he were a godly
Man.
But the
Apostle has determined this, Heb 11:32.
By adverting
to the doctrines and examples of
Scripture, the artifices of
Satan, the deceitfulness of the human
Heart, and the methods in
which the
Lord frequently deals with his people, we may learn
useful lessons from this history, at which some needlessly
stumble, while others cavil and object. The
Peculiar time in
which
Samson lived may account for many things, which, if done
in our time, and without the special appointment of
Heaven,
would be highly criminal. And there might have been in him many
exercises of
Piety, which, if recorded, would have reflected a
different
Light upon his character. Observe
Samson's danger. Oh
that all who indulge their sensual appetites in drunkenness, or
any fleshly lusts, would see themselves thus surrounded,
way-laid, and marked for ruin
By their spiritual enemies! The
faster they sleep, the more secure they feel, the greater their
danger. We
Hope it was with a pious resolution not to return to
his
Sin, that he
Rose under a fear of the danger he was in. Can
I be safe under this guilt? It was bad that he lay down without
such checks; but it would have been worse, if he had laid still
under them.
4-17 Samson had been more than once brought into mischief and
danger
By the
Love of women, yet he would not take warning, but
is again taken in the same
Snare, and this third time is fatal.
Licentiousness is one of the things that take away the
Heart.
This is a
Deep Pit into which many have fallen; but from which
few have escaped, and those
By a
Miracle of
Mercy, with the loss
of reputation and usefulness, of almost all, except their souls.
The anguish of the suffering is ten thousand times greater than
all the pleasures of the
Sin.
18-21 See the fatal effects of false security.
Satan ruins men
By flattering them into a good opinion of their own safety, and
So bringing them to mind nothing, and fear nothing; and then he
robs them of their strength and honour, and leads them
Captive
at his will. When we sleep our spiritual enemies do not.
Samson's eyes were the inlets of his
Sin,
(ver. 1,) and now
his
Punishment began there. Now the
Philistines blinded him, he
had time to remember how his own
Lust had before blinded him.
The best way to preserve the eyes, is, to turn them away from
beholding vanity. Take warning
By his fall, carefully to watch
against all fleshly lusts; for all our
Glory is gone, and our
defence departed from us, when our separation to
God, as
spiritual Nazarites, is profaned.
22-24 Samson's
Afflictions were the means of bringing him to
Deep Repentance.
By the loss of his bodily sight the eyes of his
understanding were opened; and
By depriving him of bodily
strength, the
Lord was pleased to renew his spiritual strength.
The
Lord permits some few to wander wide and sink
Deep, yet he
recovers them at last, and marking his displeasure at
Sin in
their severe temporal sufferings, preserves them from sinking
into the
Pit of
Destruction. Hypocrites may abuse these
examples, and infidels mock at them, but true Christians will
thereby be rendered more humble, watchful, and circumspect; more
simple in their dependence
On the
Lord, more fervent in
Prayer
to be kept from falling, and in praise for being preserved; and,
if they fall, they will be kept from sinking into despair.
25-31 Nothing fills up the sins of any person or people faster
than mocking and misusing the servants of
God, even thought it
is
By their own folly that they are brought low.
God Put it into
Samson's
Heart, as a public person, thus to avenge
On them
God's
quarrel,
Israel's, and his own. That strength which he had lost
By Sin, he recovers
By Prayer. That it was not from
Passion or
personal revenge, but from holy zeal for the
Glory of
God and
Israel, appears from
God's accepting and answering the
Prayer.
The
House was pulled down, not
By the natural strength of
Samson, but
By the almighty power of
God. In his case it was
right he should avenge the cause of
God and
Israel. Nor is he to
be accused of self-
Murder. He sought not his own
Death, but
Israel's deliverance, and the
Destruction of their enemies. Thus
Samson died in bonds, and among the
Philistines, as an awful
rebuke for his sins; but he died repentant. The effects of his
Death typified those of the
Death of
Christ, who, of his own
will, laid down his
Life among transgressors, and thus
overturned the foundation of
Satan's kingdom, and provided for
the deliverance of his people. Great as was the
Sin of
Samson,
and justly as he deserved the judgments he brought upon himself,
he found
Mercy of the
Lord at last; and every penitent shall
obtain
Mercy, who flees for
Refuge to that
Saviour whose
Blood
cleanses from all
Sin. But here is nothing to encourage any to
indulge
Sin, from a
Hope they shall at last repent and be saved.